A computer system and method for providing digital video and data capitalizes on a bus, or broadcast backplane, created by circuitry contained within the central office. The broadcast backplane enables a plurality of video program data to be available to each end user, and allows a plurality of end users access to a plurality of video programming content without the necessity of delivering the entire program content to each end user. A user requests a particular program and, if authorized, receives at least that program over the communication channel. Simultaneous with the digital video content supplied on the channel is both bi-directional data service (such as for example, Internet data) and POTS (plain old telephone service). In this manner, a communication channel that is presently available to a large percentage of the population may be used to deliver digital video content, bi-directional data and POTS simultaneously. In addition, the digital video and data delivery system employs novel architecture to synchronize the timing of the digital video signal to ensure that the digital video program received by the user is of high quality and complies with the present state of the art MPEG-2 (motion picture experts group-2) video standard.
Legal claims defining the scope of protection, as filed with the USPTO.
1. A software management system for managing a digital video and data delivery system in which a plurality of channels are simultaneously available to at least one user, and wherein said user may request at least one of said plurality of video channels, comprising: means for managing a database containing user information; means for managing a plurality of channels including a plurality of video channels available on a bus and at least one bi-directional data channel, wherein said bi-directional data channel allows for communication with networks selected from the group consisting of internal and external networks; means for communicating with a plurality of central office master workstations in order to exchange information relating to said user information and said plurality of channels; means for processing a request from said user to view one of said plurality of video channels, wherein said means for processing is located within a central office; and means for delivering said at least one of said plurality of video channels and said at least one bi-directional data channel to said user over a communications channel.
2. The system as defined in claim 1 , further comprising means for interfacing said user information to a billing system.
3. The system as defined in claim 1 , further comprising means for simultaneously providing with said at least one video channel and said at least one bi-directional data channel, at least one telephone channel.
4. The system as defined in claim 1 , further comprising: means for monitoring each of said plurality of channels requested by said user in order to develop a viewing history for each said user; means for recording said history to said database; and means for communicating said history to a system management workstation.
Cooperative Patent Classification codes for this invention. Click any code to explore related patents in that topic.
November 4, 1998
August 13, 2002
Browse 5M+ US patents with plain-English claim translations and AI-generated analysis.